The Biophysics of Nucleic Acids Sensing by Hybridization on a Lab-on-Chip Device by ProQuest

An analysis of the oligonucleotides hybridization efficiency and mechanisms, by means of fluorescence detection, on the Lab-on-Chip device provided by STMicroelectronics, is here reported. The device consists of a silicon oxide microfabricated reactor capable to perform a PCR, and fluidically integrated with a microarray detection module aimed to detect the specific amplified DNA, via hybridization, with an assay-specific DNA microarray printed on the silicon oxide surface. The study was performed by using two different silicon surfaces featured by diverse amount of silanol (Si-OH) groups. The study put in evidence the relationship between such type of surface differences with DNA oligonucleotide surface probe density and the device analytical sensitivity. The sensitivity curves and the thermodynamics of a model system have been carried out. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]